CFA and eight other groups call for new regulation of ATVs.

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), joined by eight other groups, (4) called on CPSC on Aug. 21 to ban adult-sized ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) for use by children under 16 and to provide refunds for consumers for 3-wheeled ATVs and any adult-sized 4-wheeled ATVs purchased for children under 16. The petition is currently undergoing scrutiny in CPSC's Office of General Counsel. The petition charges that since the expiration of CPSC's consent agreement with the ATV industry in 1998, ATV producers have marketed larger, more powerful machines, and further alleged that children under 16 are victims of more injuries and fatalities as a result. The groups say federal regulation is necessary because the industry's self-regulation has not worked. The groups also charge that the voluntary standard now in effect, ANSI's ATV/SVI 1-2001, is inadequate.

CPSC's latest data on ATV injury trends was issued May 15. Robin Ingle, a statistician with the agency's Division of Hazard Analysis, told the Commission that ATV-related deaths and injuries have indeed been increasing in the last few years.

Ingle said that there was a "statistically significant increase in the estimated number of injuries for 2001, up about 17 percent over 2000."

Ingle added that the increase "is not fully explained by an increase in the number of ATVS in use." He noted that "children under 16 years of age accounted for 37 percent of the total estimated injuries from 1985 through 2001."

With regard to fatalities, the CPSC document says that the number of ATV-related deaths reported to the Commission increased by 459 since the last report. Ingle stated, "This may be partly due to the fact that since 1999, more complete data on public road fatalities has become available to CPSC than had been available prior to 1999. (5)

CPSC will receive an updated risk analysis on ATVs this fall. The risk analysis will look more closely at the causes of ATV deaths and injuries, rather than reporting raw numbers as with the latest ATV Death and Injury Report.

But ATV user groups such as the All-Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA) charge that the numbers CFA used in its petition to CPSC and in its Aug. 21 news conference don't reflect reality. Rather, says a news release issued by ATVA on Aug. 22, the numbers show just the opposite of what CFA meant to convey. "These groups are conveniently ignoring the remarkable growth in ATV use in recent years," said ATVA Director Doug Morris. "Simply put, there's been a tremendous increase in the number of people riding ATVs, and on a percentage basis, the sport is much safer today than it was a decade or more ago."

Morris also noted that under the 1988 consent decree between the manufacturers and the government, only the smallest ATVs--those with engines displacing 90 cc or less--have been sold for use by riders in the under age 16 group.

Morris also questioned the motivation of some of the groups that are part of the anti-ATV petition. He noted that the Bluewater Network, an environmental group, "has never had any involvement with or interest in ATV safety."

"Instead, their agenda is to block access to public lands for ATV riders and others involved in motorized recreation,'" Morris said.

Morris said the ATVA supports the industry's efforts to make riding an ATV safer, and advocates close adult supervision of children riding "proper-sized" ATVs. (6)

The involvement of environmental groups no doubt stems from the objection of some to the alleged damage caused to public lands by reckless use of ATVs. But ATV riders are organized and determined to preserve their sport.

Sonia Bartz, president of the Minnesota ATV association, for example, says that ATV riders deserve to be able to use public lands, and that the majority of ATV users do use common sense about the environment.

"We understand and realize that we don't belong everywhere," she said. But other riders are annoyed that more and more legal restrictions are being imposed without giving ATV users more room to enjoy their vehicles. (7)

The wording of CFA's petition on ATVs seems remarkably familiar to anyone who followed the ATV debate at CPSC in the 1980s. In the Monitor's view, there is little prospect that the current Commission would accede to the petition's demand that the federal government ban the use of adult-sized ATVs by anyone under 16 years of age. Enforcement of such a rule would be tricky, if not impossible. There are thousands of kids under 16 who currently safely ride ATVs of the appropriate size. Nick Marchica, a CPSC staff member who played a key role in the ATV investigations of the 1980s, told the Monitor last year that the children getting hurt on ATVs are usually riding adult-sized vehicles or not wearing helmets. CPSC studies have shown that wearing protective helmets could prevent 85 percent of severe ATV injuries. (8)

CFA's demand that CPSC order consumer refunds for all 3-wheeled ATVs and for all four-wheeled ATVs sold for use by children seems ludicrous in view of the popularity of the vehicles. The issue of refunds was thoroughly debated in the 1980s and rejected by the Commission. CFA does not suggest how one could tell that an adult-sized ATV was bought for a child under 16, since no dealer would likely admit to having sold one for that purpose. Three-wheelers have not been marketed since the late 1980s, and the few that are still around are hardly powerful enough to be a threat. In short, there is no reason to believe the current Commissioners would support refunds now.

(4) The eight others who joined the CFA petition are: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP); the Bluewater Network, an environmental group; The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Columbus Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; The Danny Foundation for Crib & Child Product Safety; Kids in Danger; the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses; and the U.S. Public Interest Research Groups (USPIRG).

(5) Annual Report of ATV Deaths and Injuries, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. May 15, 2002.

(6) "AMA/ATVA Challenge Attacks on All-Terrain Vehicles," news release from the American Motorcyclist Association and the All-Terrain Vehicle Association, Pickering, Ohio, Aug. 22, 2002.

(7) Meerman, Tom, "Tracks on the Land, Nature Pays the Price as ATVs Hit Minnesota's Woods," Minneapolis Star-Tribune, February 24, 2002.

(8) See CPSC Monitor, Vol. 6, issue 10, November-December, 2001, "Youth-Sized ATVs May Help Prevent Greater Injuries to Kids."